memeorandum: Iran's top leaders praise spirit of Christmas (Rebecca Shabad/The Hill)

3:10 AM ET, December 25, 2013

Top Items:

Sign-Up Period Extended Again for Health Plan — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Tuesday that it would provide more time for people to complete their applications for health insurance if they could show that they missed the deadline because of problems with the federal health care website.

Discussion: Associated Press, Hot Air, National Review and Politico

Joanne Kenen / Politico:

HHS offers help for people who miss Obamacare deadline — People who can't finish the online signup for Obamacare health insurance by midnight today because of website problems can seek extra time to finalize their application and still get covered by Jan. 1, according to a message posted on HealthCare.gov early this afternoon.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Health Insurance Blog:
Couldn't enroll by December 23? We can still help you get covered

Discussion: Post Politics

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
ObamaCare site sees traffic surge on eve of enrollment deadline

Discussion: Politico and Los Angeles Times

Chad Terhune / Los Angeles Times:
California health exchange tops 400,000 enrolled prior to deadline

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and americanthinker.com

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:

Iran's top leaders praise spirit of Christmas — Iran President Hassan Rouhani is endorsing the spirit of Christmas. — Rouhani on Tuesday retweeted two tweets, one by Iran's supreme leader and one by its foreign minister, that focused on the spirit of Christmas.

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Here Are The 15 Democratic Senators Bucking The White House And Threatening War With Iran

Discussion: PERRspectives, Hullabaloo and Mondoweiss

Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:
Where's the Anti-War Left on Iran?

Discussion: The American Conservative

Jose DelReal / Politico:

Bill de Blasio daughter reveals drug, alcohol abuse — In an unusual and moving Christmas Eve video, the college-age daughter of New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is revealing for the first time her struggle with alcohol, drugs and depression — and is urging others in need to get help.

Discussion: ABC 7 Eyewitness News, The Hinterland Gazette, CNN and BuzzFeed

Andrea Peyser / New York Post:

Give her the heave-ho, de Blasio — Enough! — If Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has a lick of sense in his 6-foot-5 frame, he'll cast out of his incoming administration Lis Smith — the randy Democratic operative who's got a freaky fetish for the black knee socks and balding pate of married ex-Love Gov Eliot Spitzer.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Politicker

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Appeals Court Refuses To Halt Utah Marriages For Same-Sex Couples — A Christmas Eve order from the 10th Circuit. Update: State officials say they will ask the Supreme Court to step in. — Nicole Barnes, left, and her partner Tarah Camarillo exchange rings as they get married …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, FOX13Now.com, AMERICAblog News and The Volokh Conspiracy

McKenzie Romero / Deseret News:
About 700 marriage licenses issued in Utah since judge's ruling

Discussion: New York Times, LGBTQ Nation and BuzzFeed

BBC:

Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan Turing — Computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing has been given a posthumous royal pardon. — It addresses his 1952 conviction for homosexuality for which he was punished by being chemically castrated. — The conviction meant he lost …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Mashable and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Jethro Mullen / CNN:
Alan Turing, British code-breaker castrated for homosexuality, receives pardon

Discussion: Mediaite and Advocate

Caroline Davies / Guardian:
Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing receives royal pardon

Discussion: Techdirt, Boing Boing and Towleroad News #gay

Oliver Wright / The Independent:
Alan Turing gets royal pardon for ‘gross indecency’ - 61 years after he poisoned himself

Discussion: Firedoglake, Guardian, Shakesville, NBCNews and Business Insider

Kris Van Cleave / WJLA-TV:

VIDEO: Santa Claus shot with pellet gun at toy giveaway in Southeast — WASHINGTON (WJLA) - A man in a Santa Claus suit was shot in the back with a pellet gun Tuesday morning during a toy giveaway in Southeast Washington. — The video is disturbing. The man dressed as Santa has led …

Discussion: WUSA9.com, The Hinterland Gazette, The Raw Story, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Scared Monkeys, Jammie Wearing Fools and The Gateway Pundit

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:

House Republican vows to defend Christmas from ‘offended’ minority — Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) on Tuesday vowed to protect Christmas against what he called a “vocal minority” offended by its symbols and traditions. — “There is a vocal minority that is offended at the rest of us …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, CNN and CBS New York

Adam Withnall / The Independent:

Kim Jong-un: North Korean leader ‘was very drunk’ when ordering executions — Source tells Japanese newspaper purge of Kim's powerful uncle Jang Song-thaek was inevitable after ‘surprising’ first deaths — The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was “very drunk” when he ordered the recent execution …

Discussion: Scotsman, Hot Air, Mediaite and Fox News

Rick Kambic / Chicago Sun Times:

Morton Grove Library Board rejects $3K donation from atheist — Comments on a Facebook page, including one that said “[expletive] God,” led Morton Grove Library trustees to reject a $3,000 donation that was made to support Park Board member Dan Ashta's Pledge of Allegiance boycott.

Discussion: The Raw Story and Mediaite

Las Vegas Review-Journal:

The gist of Christmas lost — 'Twas the season of Christmas, and all through the land — Were signs and symbols some folks couldn't stand. — The evergreen conifer many decorate with glee, — But don't you dare call it a Christmas tree. — Heaven forbid a Nativity in the town square

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Travis Gettys / The Raw Story:

Christian activists show their love by covering Chicago atheist display and berating onlookers — A Christian activist group placed a banner over an atheist display at Chicago's Daley Plaza proclaiming that “A is for Angels.” — The banner covers a sign set up earlier this month by the Freedom …

Discussion: Mediaite and Liberaland

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Legitimacy Problem — It's pretty clear that the implementation of Obamacare will set the tone for how Americans think about government for years to come. There are two large questions to be settled, which you might call the questions of competence and coercion.

Discussion: PolicyShop and Democratic Strategist